Disciples make disciples make disciples...

By Mary Jo Zwar

Posted Dec 23, 2015 in Family

When my daughter was a pre-schooler she was given a hand-made quiet activity book with the title Girls Can Be Disciples, Too. Inside the book were pages featuring female New Testament disciples that she could manipulate using Velcro, buttons, wool and other simple items.

The title has stayed with me. Disciples are not just characters from the New Testament of the Bible. Girls can be disciples, today. Boys can be disciples, today. Parents and grandparents can be disciples today. Jesus said: “If you continue in my word, then you are my disciples indeed.”

What does it mean for a family today to continue in Jesus’ word?

The word “continue” is a key. There’s no one-off, quick fix that makes disciples. It’s a continuing process. The process may begin even before birth as parents commit themselves to being Jesus’ disciples and raising their child as Jesus’ disciple. It continues as parents make Jesus’ word a key element of the home and lifestyle in which they raise their child – day after day, week after week, year after year, crisis after crisis, milestone after milestone, celebration after celebration – as the infant becomes a toddler, a school-aged child, a teenager, a young adult.

Children tend to think and behave like their parents; they become, as it were, their parents’ disciples. So the first step in raising children as Jesus’ disciples is for the parents themselves to “continue in his word”. This includes each parent’s own personal style of prayer, Bible reading and Bible study, worship and service to others.

The second step is to let children observe, overhear and perhaps imitate the parents’ faith practices and the caring way in which they relate to one another and to the child.

In the third step parents intentionally involve the child in the parents’ faith practices. They modify the practices and shape them to the child.

Prayer becomes not just adult prayer about adult concerns; it becomes prayer with children at mealtime and bedtime and at unplanned moments when they want to praise God or confide in him.

Bible reading becomes Bible story reading (or acting out, or singing) with young children. As children mature it becomes helping them to read for themselves with understanding.

Bible study becomes involving children in Christian education opportunities in a church or school.

Worship becomes a family event – not just going to church occasionally, but making worship in church a priority, preparing for it and talking about it afterward. It also becomes worship in the home, as regularly as possible in whatever form is appropriate for the family.

Service – service projects and a day-to day servant attitude – becomes something children do with and talk about with their parents.

Please note: This article refers to parents, but many of the same ideas apply to other caregivers or even extended family.

This article first appeared in the November 2011 edition of New Times.

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